


The Flower Girl and the Wolf

by ElectronicStar



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Clerith, F/M, Shapeshifting, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23446417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectronicStar/pseuds/ElectronicStar
Summary: Aerith's living a normal live, until she met a shapeshifting wolf named Cloud...Formerly known as 'Beauty and the Beast' but completely rewritten.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	1. The Stranger from the Woods

It was night in Midgar and a dark, hooded figure jumped over seceral roofs. This town was weird, it had a gigantic plate and people lived above and below it. Cloud decided to hide below the plate and somewhere in the middle of these...slums, he stopped. He was on the roof of an old church. He pulled the hood of his cloak off, revealing a pair of wolf ears twitching at every sound. He smelled the air, but except for the bad smell of the town, there was no hint that anyone followed him. Nodding to himself, he turned to get going, but suddenly the wooden plates he stood on broke and he fell into the church, getting knocked out by the impact.

* * *

"Mom, I'm off!" Called Aerith cheerfully, pulling on her little red jacket over her pink dress and bouncing down the stairs. Despite her twenty-one years of age, she was still being as cheerful and bouncy as a child.

"Where are you going, sweetheart?" Asked her mother Elmyra, stopping her daughter before she could leave the house.

"The church. Someone has to take care of the flowers." She said, smiling happily at her mother. Elmyra smiled back and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Be careful, Aerith." Said girl rolled her eyes playfully. Elmyra told her this everytime she left the house. Yes, she knew the Slums could be dangerous, but Aerith could take care of herself just fine.

"Always. See you later, mom."

* * *

Aerith walked happily through the streets of Midgar. Her braid that was fixed with pink ribbon swung back and forth with each step. Aerith kept looking around to see if there's anything dangerous nearby, but there was nothing. It was very early and there weren't many people outside yet.

The girl looked up at the upper plate that prevented everyone living below it, to see the sky. But Aerith didn't really care not to see the sky. She was...kinda afraid of it.

Just a few minutes later she arrived at the church of Sector 5 and entered it. It was very old, no one bothered to take care of the building, so now it was just rotting away. If it wasn't for Aerith of course. She took care of this place and even grew a flower bed in the middle, where the altar once has been.

But something was different today. As she came closer to her flowers she saw someone lying in them. She tilted her head at the unconscious man lying on her poor flowers, before looking up. There's a hole that wasn't there yesterday. He must've fallen down. Did he come from the uper town, or did he just walk on the roof?

The boy was had spikey, blond hair and he only wore black. A coat, a wollen shirt with only one sleeve -which was a different kind of fabric she noticed, and pants. Oh and a wolf necklace. After taking a closer look she noticed him having animal ears. And a fluffy tail, too! She wasn't an animal expert but it looked like they're from a wolf. Was he cosplaying? Tilting her head again, she knelled down and poked one of his fluffy ears and to her surprised it wiggled with every touch. As if it was real...

Then the man began to stir and groan quietly, snapping Aerith out of her thoughts. "H-hey, can you hear me?" Aerith waited for a reply, but none came. "Hellooo~!" She called and watched him stirring awake. "Hellloooo~!" Aerith called again and now his eyes fluttered open.

Aerith couldn't help but stare at his bright, sapphire blue eyes for a while. Was this how the sky looked like? If so then it wasn't scary at all. "Yay!" She exclaimed, when he looked back at her and sat up. He was staring at her, too, kinda like as if he never saw a human being before.

* * *

Cloud stared at the girl, not quite sure what to think. Was he dead? Was she an angel? Her eyes sparkled and shined and looked define on their own. And then there was her face and hair and dress and everything about her. No that wasn't an angel, she was a goddess.

"Are you okay?" She asked and her voice...Her voice sounded so...sweet. No, she couldn't be a normal human being...But then his eyes widened. No, she smelled like a human. He immediately reached up for his hood, but it wasn't there. She could definitely see his ears. And he knew they moved, too. Way to hide his identity...He had to get out of here.

"Hey." Her voice caught his attention immediately. "Do you understand me?" Cloud just nodded hesitantly. "Are you okay?" She asked again and Cloud answered with another nod. "So...what are you?" He looked away, having no idea how to answer this. Well, actually he did, but he couldn't get any words out of his mouth. "Can you talk?" She really had lots if questions. But he'd probably be just like that when he saw a weird creature. He nodded again.

She smiled at him then. It was...so radiant. So beautiful...He opened his mouth to talk, but was stopped by her voice. "Are these tiny fangs?" She asked amused and even though these are not the worst things she saw on him, he quickly covered his mouth and avoided her gaze.

Then, just a second later, he felt something tickling his ear. It wiggled on its own and the girl began to giggle. He glanced at her and saw that she was the one tickling his ear. It would be so much more annyoing if she wouldn't have such a beautiful, angelic voice..."So, these are real? Can you tell me something about yourself?"

Well, it was too late now, anyway, right? "I'm a wolf." He answered, looking away again. The girl hummed and he could practically feel her stare on him. It was kinda embarrassing...

"Well, except for your fluffy tail and ears you look like a normal guy to me." She said thoughtfully.

It was forbidden to reveal the identity to humans, but it was way to late for that. "It's because...This is a disguise. I uhm....can transform into a real wolf."

"Wow...Can you show me?" This question really surprised him.

"What?" He asked shocked leaning away from her. What kind of girl was this? Normal people would be afraid of him, but she was actually curious!

"Can you show me? I'd really like to see it." She asked again, looking at him hopefully with her sparkling green eyes.

"No." He answered, again trying to get away from her gaze.

"Why not?" She sounded so disappointed. So sad. This shouldn't have an impact on him!

"You'll be afraid." He took the lamest excuse ever. This girl should be aftaid of him, but for some reason he didn't want to scare her.

"Don't worry." She said and Cloud made the same mistake again and looked at her radiant smile. "Wolves are one of my favorite animals! I won't be afraid of you."

To be honest, he had no idea if she was brave or extremely naive..."Still no."

"You're no fun..." She mumbled, pouting like a little girl. "By the way...do you mind getting out of the flowerbed?"

His question confused him for a second, that is until he looked down and realized for the first time that he was sitting in the middle of many pretty flowers. "Oh..." He quickly stood up and jumped out of the flower bed. "Sorry."

The girl smiled, despite him crushing her flowers. "It's okay. They can handle it." So that's why it smelled so good. And he thought it was only her that smelled so amazingly flowery.

"Why...why are you not afraid of me?" He asked then, thinking that her lack of fear weird. Every other human hated and feared them, so why not her?"

"Why would I? You're a really nice guy. Wolf."

"People call us 'monsters'." He said, frowning.

"I don't think you're one. As I said, you're really nice. Say, do you have a name?"

The blonde was clearly hesitant, but then again he never met a human like her before. She looked very trustworthy. "Cloud."

The girl hummed, her smile never faded. "Cloud, huh." His ears twitched when she said his name and couldn't help but like how it sounded with her voice. "I'm Aerith. Nice to meet you." Cloud smiled back, slightly. Could anyone not smile in her presence? "Cloud. Please show me how you look as a wolf."

She looked at him like a wolf pup and he felt himself crumble under that gaze. "Okay..." He said, looking away from her. She was surely smiling brightly right now. Looking around, he found a back door. "Wait here." He left her standing there and went to the separate room. Then he undressed himself, since he still needed these 'borrowed' clothes and couldn't afford to rip them apart. As soon as he shed all clothes, he transformed into his wolf form.

He had a golden like fur color and his hair style was still there. His head and neck was all spikey. And to top it all off, he got the white spots from his father. A big part of his eight ear was white, his feet were white he had a big white spot on his left eye and the complete underside of his muzzle belly and all the way to thw tip of his tail were white. He was probably the most bright colored wolf on this planet. Well, except for the ones who were completely white or silver-ish. After stretching his legs and ruffling his fur with his paws, he hesitantly walked back to Aerith.

He still expected her to be afraid as soon as she saw him, but instead she looked at him in wonder. Not just because he was an actual wolf, but also because he was much bigger than a normal one. He was big enough to carry her on his back. "Wow." Cloud made sure to have a safe distance between them and sat down, just watching her reaction. To his surprise, she approached him and reached out, gently touching his head. "You're fur is so fluffy..." She said more to herself, as she petted him gently, running her fingers through his fur. Aerith traced the white spots on his eye and ear and if he'd be a human he'd surely blush. Actually he still felt quite warm already.

He scooched in, unconsciously, really enjoying the way she petted him. But then She surprised him by coming even closer and burrying her face in his shoulder. "W-what are you doing?" He asked, but it sounded more like a barking to her ears. Sadly, his kind couldn't speak with humans. There was a different, intelligent species that spoke the human tongue, though. They were close allies.

Aerith kept snuggling him and Cloud tried to ignore her sweet, flowery scent. It was more intense with his wolf form and it wrapped him into a sweet, warm bubble that he didn't want to get out of. But he had to. He won't stay in this weird, stinky place. All he wanted was to see the world and had to go back eventually. With that in mind, he backed away from her and disappeared into the back room again. Even if everything in him told him to stay like that with her forever. Before he could change his mind and go back to her, he transformed back and dressed himself again. When he went back to the girl, he saw her pouring.

"Why did you change back?" She asked sad, disappointed. It was almost enough to go back there and change back. Almost.

But he didn't have an answer to her question. While trying to calm his racing heart, he approached her again and sat down on the ground. "I don't understand you...You should be afraid of me. Every normal human being would be afraid and run away from me."

But Aerith ignored him obviously, as she was more occupied at poking his ear and tail. "Are you listening?" He asked her frustrated. She didn't bother looking at him and kept poking his tail.

"I hear you. I just don't care." Her honesty was really...something else. "'Oh my gosh, whatever should I do'? Is that what you want to hear?" Cloud just stared at her blankly.

"Every other wolf would've killed you instantly..."

"But you didn't."

"Yeah, but..." There was no use talking with her. She was just a crazy and insane person. "Can you show me the way out of this town?"

Now this got her attention. "You wanna go already?"

Cloud nodded. "This isn't really...the best smelling place I've ever been to..."

"You're right. It's the Mako. I think I got used to the smell...I've been living here since I remember." Silently Cloud wondered why anyone would want to live in this place. He had no idea how people lived above the plate, but down here...It must be like living in hell. "Hey, how about you stay here overnight? I can offer you a place to sleep."

Cloud took a moment to think. It wouldn't hurt staying here for the night. Until then he could probably talk with Aerith more. "Okay."

Aerith beamed at his answer. Her smile was blinding him. "Great! You can stay at my place. My mother's there, too, but don't worry! I know she'll love you!"

At the mention of her mother, he was nervous. "Are you sure she won't mind? And what about..."

"Don't worry! She's very good at keeping secrets, you know. Even if she kicks you out, you can still stay here. But it's worth a try, right?" She was very optimistic...But it was infectious.

"Right." After pulling the hood of his coat over his head, she followed Aerith out of the church and to her place.


	2. Wolf, meet Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your nice reviews! Im glad you like it.

“Are you sure about...”

“Yes.” Interrupted Aerith, not letting Cloud finish the sentence because she knew what he's gonna ask. Again. “I'm really, really, really sure, okay?” At least then he stopped talking and just followed her like the puppy that he was. Aerith couldn't help but giggle at the thought and ignored his confused look.

It didn't take long for them to cross the Sector and came closer to her home. And even though it's still a part of the Sector 5 Slums, it looked so different from the rest of it. Aerith was quite sure that her house was the most beautiful below the plate and she was the only one who had an actual garden with lots of flowers. Well, for some reason they only grew here and in the church.

Cloud stopped when they reached their destination and stared at the garden. “Beautiful, huh?” She asked, smiling at him and tilting her head.

The blonde looked at her then and mumbled something that sounded like 'you are', before correcting himself. “It is.” Aerith giggled, especially when she saw him blushing. So she heard right.

“My mom and I grew them. It's weird, this and the church are the only places where flowers can grow.”

“This is amazing...” Aerith watched how his fluffy ears wiggled, taking in all kinds of sounds. He looked so cute. Then he noticed her staring and returned her gaze. “W-what?”

“Nothing.” She smiled at him brightly and grabbed his arm. “Let's go inside.” Cloud only nodded and let her lead him into the house. “Mom, I'm home!” She called, as they entered the house.

Elmyra came down the stairs a moment later. “You're very early today.“ She said, before seeing the hooded figure next to her. “And who's this?“

Aerith smiled and grabbed Cloud's arm. “Don't worry. He's not one of them.“ She tried to reassure her mother. “This is Cloud. I know it sounds crazy, but he's a wolf.“ At her questioning look, Aerith pulled off his hood to reveal his ears and then her look turned into surprise.

Cloud looked at her hesitantly, before looking down again. “M-ma'am.“ He was a very polite wolf.

But her mom didn't quite looked like she wanted him here. “Aerith...are you sure he's not dangerous? I've heard stories about them...“ At that Cloud gave her a look that said 'See? People hate me and you should, too', but she ignored it.

“Don't worry, mom. He's really nice. And he's looking for a place to stay the night. He'll leave tomorrow.“ She tried to convince her mother but it looked like she wasn't convinced. “He's not dangerous.“

Elmyra took a minute to think, also glancing at Cloud to judge for herself if he's dangerous or not. “Okay. But only for tonight.“

“Promise!“

* * *

Aerith looked at him with the brightest smile he's ever seen on a person. And he couldn't help but feel happy that she was happy. He returned her smile slightly, before looking to her mother. “Thank you. For letting me stay.“ He said, bowing to her, using all the good manners his mother taught him. But the tension broke again when he felt someone poking his ear.

He didn't even have to look up to see who it was...It tickled, though and his wolf ear moved by itself. “So cute.“ Squeaked Aerith delighted, while Cloud could only look away and hope none of them saw him blushing. “Cloud, are you hungry?“ She asked, getting his attention again.

The blonde nodded, but wondered how they should get food here. How did anyone get food here? There aren't any creatures to hunt. “Yeah but...there's nothing to hunt around here...“ He said, confused at Aerith's carefree and teasing smile.

“We're not hunting, Cloud.“ He frowned. “You're right, there's nothing here. That's why some people leave this town to hunt. And others have farms. And they sell their food so that everyone can have something. We pay them with money. Do you understand?“

Still frowning, his eyes went up to the right to imagine what she just said. So it was like a team of the pack leave to gather food enough for them and for the whole pack. But instead of just giving it to everyone they want 'money', because people only fend for themselves apparently. “I guess...“ He mumbled.

Aerith went to a different part of the house, that she called 'kitchen' and Cloud followed. He stared at everything in confusion, not knowing what all these weird things were for. When she opened something, he stood right behind her to see what's inside. Smelled like lots of food, but not only that, he could feel cold air coming out of it. “What's that? Why is this cold?“ He asked her, now looking at it mesmerized.

“It's a refrigerator. The cold air keeps the food fresh.“ She explained. So it was like in winter, when they buried meat in snow?

“I see...“ He mumbled, that was indeed very handy.

“So, what do you wanna eat, Cloud?“ The girl asked and Cloud only got the most obvious answer from him.

“Uh, meat?“

Aerith giggled. “Of course.“ She took out a big piece of meat out of that cooling thing, but brought it somewhere else. The wolf tilted his head and watched her taking other utensils.

“Cloud, why don't you sit down and wait a while?“ Said Elmyra, who joined them in the kitchen.

He only got out of their way though. Cloud stayed nearby and watched the women curiously, until a very delicious scent filled the whole house. It was the meat, but it smelled kinda different now. Something sizzled, too. A few minutes later they seemed to be done and brought the food to the 'table'. It was on 'plates' and Aerith taught him how to use the 'fork' and 'knife'. At his question what she did to the meat, she said she cooked it. “Be careful, it's hot.“

“It smells...nice.“ He mumbled, sniffing the still slightly sizzling meat. Then he clumsily cut off a piece and and put it in his mouth. His eyes widened at the taste. It was so delicious! He's eaten meat his whole life, but never did it taste like this before!

“You like it?“ Asked Aerith, who's eating her own food. He noticed that she and Elmyra had something else entirely. All he could do was nod, as he cut off a bigger piece. As he began to literally wolf down his meal, she noticed Aerith glancing at him from time to time and smiled at him. In one of these times he couldn't help but return her smile slightly. This only seemed to make her happier, as her smile brightened.

“Cloud, what else are you eating in the woods? Except meat, of course.“ Asked Elmyra once they were all done eating.

Cloud swallowed his last piece before answering. “Well, sometimes we eat fish and berries. Why?“

“I'm just curious.“ Said the older woman innocently. The women brought the plates back intonthe kitchen and did something there. Cloud watched them from his seat, but couldn't make out what they did.

Then Aerith prepared something, he still couldn't see but something smelled delicious. “Do you want some strawberries, Cloud?“

He didn't know what it was, but if it smelled so delicious it had to taste like it too. “Sure.“ Just a moment later she came back with a 'bowl' with red fruits. “I've never eaten those before...“ He mumbled, before trying one. And he was right, these 'strawberries' were delicious!

“You like it?“ Aerith asked the obvious, as she watched him eat.

Cloud nodded. “Yeah. They're great.“ The girl smiled and took a berry herself. The blonde noticed that some of the berry juice trickled down Aerith's chin and he had to fight the urge to lick it off. That's not what humans did, right? When Aerith noticed him staring he immediately looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up. They kept eating in silence until the bowl was empty. As Cloud looked around to avoid Aerith's gaze, he noticed another interesting thing. It looked like a box, but...not quiet. There were buttons on it and...a part that looked different from the rest. “What's that?“ He asked going closer to the box.

“That's a tv.“ A second later he was blinded by light and foreign voiced talked. And when he saw people in the box, he backed away in shock. He heard Aerith giggle.

“What is that?! Are tiny people living in this box?“ He asked, while she kept laughing.

“No. The people are regular sized.“ And then she explained him the magic that was 'television'. It's not that he could understand it, though...But having this to get info's from the whole planet and a few things to 'pass the time' and 'entertain themselves' was amazing.

In the 'news' came something unexpected then. It showed him, how he ran into the town. He had to scare a few people away, so he looked as wild and dangerous as the guy called him. “Wow, Cloud, you made some big impression there.“ Joked Aerith then.

Of course she still wasn't afraid of him...He expected her or Elmyra to say anything about it, but...“Cloud, where are you from?“ Asked the older woman and joined Aerith at the table again.

“Uh, Gongaga.“

“Wait what? That's on another continent! How did you get here?“ Asked Aerith surprised.

“Uh well...Wolves in my age usually leave the pack to make a new one. But our current situations won't let us. Still I wanted to see a bit of the world and they let me go. I didn't plan to come here, though. I, uh smelled something to eat in a ship and got in. And then I was here. Well, a few people chased me around on the way, too.“

“Aww, I'm so sorry Cloud!“ Said Aerith, looking so sad at him, that the only thing he wanted to do was make her happy again.

“It's fine. If...if they wouldn't have chased me around I would've never met you.“ Cloud was glad that it made her smile again and he noticed her cheeks turning pink, too.

They kept talking for the rest of the day. Aerith had to deliver some flowers to the Leave House and asked Cloud to help her. He wasn't very happy to pick and carry around flowers, but he did help her. And when she asked him to help her watering her big flower garden he did that, too. The place was too big for Aerith to do this all alone.

When they were done, he saw her kneeling by a patch of flowers. She seemed to be talking to them. Cloud went over to her, but she was already done talking. “And that was my day.“ She said to the flowers.

“Are you talking to the flowers?“ He asked her curiously.

Aerith nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but I have the feeling they want to tell me something. But their voices can't reach me.“

The wolf tilted his head, staring down at the flowers. It wasn't as crazy as she thought it was. He did hear about people, even some of his own kind, who were able to communicate with the planet. What were they called again...? “Well, let's go inside. Have some dinner.“ As Aerith went past him again, Cloud looked at the flowers again.

“Learn to talk to her.“ He said go the plants with a low voice but when he turned to follow Aerith, he realized she was still there and surely heard him.

“Did the flowers say anything?“ She asked, clasping her arms behind her back.

“Uh...'Good job today, guys'?“ He said, just hoping it's making her happy. And it did. She was smiling at him as if she's glad that he didn't think she's crazy and pretended to actually talk with the flowers.

* * *

“Good night, mom.“ Said Aerith, as she skipped all the way up the stairs. Cloud took his time and turned to Elmyra.

“Good night.“ After the woman wished him a good night as well, Cloud went up the stairs, to see Aerith waiting there for him.

“This is your room.“ The girl pointed at the door to the left. “Well, actually it's my room but you can use it today. My mom and I will share hers.“ Then the pointed to the door to the right. “So I'll be nearby if you need anything.“ Cloud nodded, although he felt guilty for taking away her 'territory'. “Alright. Good night, Cloud.“

“Good night. Aerith.“ He said and watched her disappear into her mother's room. Once the door closed, Cloud entered Aerith's room. It was difficult to see in the dark with human eyes, but it's enough to find the bed. The whole room smelled like Aerith. If he thought before that he was wrapped in a warm flowery bubble, then how he wad literally in it. He stumbled to the bed, hitting his foot somewhere on the way, and lay down.

The bed was so fluffy. It was such a big difference from sleeping on the ground all the time. The sheets, the pillow...Aerith's smell intensified there. It's almost like she lay right next to her. It lulled him to sleep immediately.

* * *

In his dreams he was a little pup again, cuddled up against the white fur of his mother. A pup who's been pushed away by the others of his age. But it wasn't like he wanted to be their friend anyway. They were all so childish, laughing at every stupid thing. No, he didn't need any of them. The way his mother was washing him, distracted him. But it also reminded him of the bite wound he earned himself from fighting one of these puppies.

“Cloud, you should stop fighting the others. We're a pack.“ Her mother scolded him. The gold-ish pup huffed and let his mother lick his wounds. He didn't need a pack. He'd grow up to a literal lone wolf. “You know, when you're old enough to leave, I'd like you to settle down with a nice girlfriend. Someone older than you who can take care of you.“ Cloud could only roll his eyes at that.

Then they both looked up, startled, when they heard battle noises. “He's back...“ His mother said, before quickly carrying him away. With her fur white and his gold-ish, they were the most obvious targets and wolves with those fur colors were supposed to be the firsts hide.

The rest of his dream was like a blur. It was weird that he could remember everything clearly but this. His mother was running, then he was hiding under some thick bushes. Then came a silver wolf with glowing eyes. They were green-ish/blue. Really scary. And then there was red. Lots and lots of red.

* * *

“Cloud?“ Said blond woke up with a start. He sat on the bed, his heart racing and civered in sweat. His eyes moved frantically to the person that called him and for a second he saw these scary, glowing eyes. But then he blinked and they turned to a deep and calming green he learned to like. “Cloud, are you okay?“ Aerith asked and her voice was enough to calm his racing heart.

He took a few deep breaths, before he could answer. “I'm fine.“ He mumbled, looking away from her just as he felt a tear gliding down his cheek. These dreams...these memories came to hunt him more frequently now.

“I don't think you're fine. I heard you screaming in your sleep. Looks like you had a real bad nightmare.“ Aerith sais, with the softest voice he heard from her yet. “Do you want to talk about it?“

Cloud leaned on his bent knees and stared at his feet. “No...“ He expected her to press on, to force him to talk about it, but she nodded and just said 'okay'. Most of the wolves in his life where very pushy, but he was glad that Aerith wasn't like that.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?“ She asked then. Cloud needed a moment to think. Everyone else would've left already or just stayed there, but no one asked what he wanted before.

“...No...“ Aerith's presence was very calming and being alone right now wasn't something he wanted for once. Nodding again the girl sat on the bed next to him. She didn't say anything and she didn't need to. Then she put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. When he looked at her, she was smiling as if to say 'everything's gonna be okay'. And he wanted to believe it. “I just...“ He began, after taking another deep breath, hos eyes focused on nothing in particular in front of him. “...dreamed about my mother. And what happened to her when I was a pup.“ Aerith just looked at him and didn't ask any questions. “She uh...was killed.“

At that he felt Aerith's hand on his shoulder squeezing him gently. “I was born in Nibelheim. But then a crazy wolf appeared and destroyed everything.“

“I've heard about it one the news...that some big wolf is on a rampage, killing lots of innocent animals. Mostly Chocobos.“ Said Aerith thoughtfully. It wasn't surprising to him, that she heard about it. Must've been some big news back then.

“We do eat Chocobos once in a while. They're really good actually, but we would never kill for sports. Not like this bastard.“ He clenched his fists tightly, till his knuckles turned white. Cloud would do anything to be strong enough to get revenge on him. But this wolf wasn't normal...

“I'm sorry for what happened to you and your mother, Cloud.“ Her hand squeezed his shoulder again.

Cloud only hummed and looked at her again. She was smiling sadly and kinda looked like she saw more than he showed or said. He didn't know what happened then. He felt like breaking down at any moment and usually he did everything to avoid it. But now...He knew Aerith wouldn't judge him if he did. Turning a bit more towards her, he let his head drop on her shoulder. In a matter of seconds Aerith wrapped her arms around his neck and just held him. Her fingers gently ran through his hair, while he just sat there with his eyes closed and only concentrated on her and her scent.


End file.
